The present invention relates to a PS/2 (Personal System/2 connector and especially to a PS/2 connector compatible with the printed circuit board layout of an S-terminal.
Current computer functions are increasingly powerful and the multimedia applications are an important feature of the modem computer. The modem computer utilizes the mouse, keyboard and other devices to input commands and control the computer. The modem computer utilizes the input and output ports to obtain signals and data from other devices or other computers, and to deliver music, video images or other signals to the monitor and other display devices. The common input port for the mouse and the keyboard is a PS/2 port. A video image output port may utilize an S-terminal port or other port. The S-terminal (Super-Video Terminal) has long been a popular connector for transmitting image signals to the video device. Therefore, a lot of video devices support S-video signal with an S-terminal. In FIG. 1, a front view of one conventional S-terminal is depicted. The conventional S-terminal has seven pins, S1 to S7, to connect with the printed circuit board, and seven sockets to connect with the video device via an S-terminal cable. The PS/2 connector is a conventional connector to connect the mouse and the keyboard to the computer. FIG. 2 depicts a front view of a conventional PS/2 connector. A conventional PS/2 connector has six pins to connect with the printed circuit board and six sockets to connect with the mouse or keyboard.
Some computers need the S-terminal to transmit the video image to video devices for display. But some users don""t need an S-terminal output port. To satisfy all users"" requirements, the computer may provide both of the S-terminal and the PS/2 connector as the input/output ports for the user. In the portable computer, there is insufficient space for so many input/output connectors on the side panel and the printed circuit board. There is a need to satisfy all users and to solve the space problem of the portable computer.
One object of the present invention is to provide a modified PS/2 connector for mounting on a printed circuit board with an S-terminal layout.
Another object of the invention is to provide a selectable printed circuit board which provides selectable switches to control the working circuits, the PS/2 circuits or S-terminal circuits
In a first aspect, the invention provides a PS/2 connector compatible with an S-terminal layout. The PS/2 connector transmits signals to a peripheral device and receives signals from the peripheral device. The PS/2 connector comprises a housing, six sockets, a dowel pin, two clicks and six modified pins. The housing may be made of plastic material. The six sockets mounted in the hosing connect with the peripheral device and transmit the signals. The dowel pin is a pin to position the PS/2 connector on a printed circuit board. The two clicks fix the PS/2 connector on the printed circuit board. The six modified pins attach to the S-terminal layout on the printed circuit board.
In a second aspect, the invention provides a selectable motherboard for utilizing a PS/2 connector to transmit signals on the selectable motherboard with an S-terminal layout. The selectable motherboard has a modified PS/2 connector, PS/2 circuits, a first switch, S-terminal circuits, and a second switch. The PS/2 circuits printed on the motherboard electrically connect with the S-terminal layout and are controlled by the first switch. The S-terminal circuits printed on the motherboard electrically connect with the S-terminal layout on the motherboard and are controlled by the second switch.
Hence, the computer becomes a computer with PS/2 connector when the PS/2 connector according to the present invention is soldered on the printed circuit board and the PS/2 circuits is turned on. The computer becomes a computer with an S-terminal to transmit video image to the display device if an S-terminal is soldered on the printed circuit board and the S-terminal circuits is turned on. The dimensions of the portable computer may be reduced; especially if the computer is a palm computer. The output connector of the computer may be diversified.